A Not So Typical Life
by CelestialSpiritQueen
Summary: One night of passion was all it took to turn Lucy Heartfilia's life completely upside down. A one night stand was supposed to be just that, except it becomes more when a certain pinked haired man enters her life. Now the two try to defeat the odds of difficult situation. Mordern Nalu AU.
1. Not all Surprises are Good

Sometimes one night is all it takes to turn your entire life upside down. A night that forces you to change the very way you live and in the moment it seems as if it could go for better or for worse. Emotions take control, strong emotions that shut out logic to the back of the mind and lock the door behind. With logic forced away the heart takes the reins, causing your body to react in a frenzied desire. A burning passion to erase the pain for at least a short period of time. It wasn't the best method of treatment but it certainly was the most enjoyable but like everything in this world, it had consequences.

"How could I have been so stupid?" Lucy whispered, barely feeling her warm tears beginning to roll down her flushed cheeks. In defeat the young blonde woman leaned against her bathroom wall that was painted a soft blue gray. The color almost seemed to fit her mood. As her strength fled from her body her knees began to give out, her back slowly slipping against the wall until her bottom reached the floor. Her skin felt clammy as she hugged her knees to her chest, her cheek resting against the wall. The cool plaster felt nice against her hot skin as memories yanked themselves to the surface of her mind. She tried to push them away like always but they wouldn't leave her. Not having the will to fight any longer, Lucy bent her head down to her chest, her golden locks acting as a curtain to the world.

 **5 weeks prior…**

Loud music pounded in the back of the bar, drowning out the majority of people's drunken conversations. Thankfully, the bar counter was closer to the front of the building so it was quieter there, making it easier to talk if you wanted to without having to scream to the person a foot away from you. There sitting a bit too daintily was a young blonde haired woman. She had practically perfect cream colored skin with chocolate brown eyes that seemed too dull at the moment. Besides her almost too short black skirt that hugged her thighs and a low cut v neck shirt that showed off a nice potion of her cleavage, the woman did not seem to belong in a dingy bar on a Thursday night. To add to the oddity of her there, she appeared to be alone and sipping her alcoholic beverage in a trance.

"Can I get you another one?" the white haired bar maiden asked the woman kindly. She was never one to judge the people who came to her bar. Lucy focused her eyes on the woman once she realized that she was being spoken too. The white haired woman had the most beautiful dark blue eyes she had ever seen and a gorgeous body. She looked like she could be a model in a famous magazine!

"I would say yes but it looks like my wallet disagrees with me," Lucy replied wryly, showing off her practically empty wallet as proof. All that was in there was a ten which would just be enough to get a cab to drive her home to her apartment. She never expected to end up here tonight. Hell, if she had known she would have brought more money to buy her a couple more drinks. Unfortunately she had no idea she was going to walk in on…

"Give her one Mira, you can put it on my tab," male voice coming from her right said making her jerk in surprise. That was when she noticed the obviously handsome man sitting a few stools away from her. Besides herself, he was the only other person sitting at the bar. The first thing she noticed about him was his hair, which she then figured was what most people saw first.

His hair was a soft pink, not a baby girl pink that you paint the nursery pink, but a deeper pink than that. It wasn't an obnoxious pink either, more toned down than that. The color she could best describe it as was a sunset pink and it stood up in messy spikes all along his head that seemed to have a mind of their own. Not to mention his hair looked extremely soft. Lucy just wanted to run her fingers through his pink locks to see if her suspicions were correct. "Are you gonna stare at me all night or are you gonna thank me?" the male spoke up, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. I've had a rough day to say the least," Lucy smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. "Thanks for the drink, I needed it." The man smiled kindly and waved it off as no big deal. She had no idea what possessed her to do this but Lucy continued the conversation as Mira went to work on mixing her drink. "My name is Lucy."

"Natsu," the man introduced himself. Seeing as a conversation was starting he hopped over to the bar stool next to her, bringing his fire whiskey along with him. "What are you doing here all alone tonight? You don't seem like the kind of girl who normally does this kind of thing."

The blonde's lips pulled down into a frown. Her drink was set in front of her, refilled so she picked it up and sipped at it. Seeing she wasn't answering, Natsu continued the conversation. "Daddy problems?" he tried to joke with her.

A small chuckle erupted from Lucy's throat, surprising herself. "For once not tonight."

"Oh?" Natsu quirked up a pink eyebrow in interest. "Then what's today's occasion?" Lucy debated telling him the truth or to fuck off. He was nice enough to buy her a drink and he wasn't grossly all over her and trying to get into her pants. Or maybe it was the alcohol speaking as she answered.

"I was _supposed_ to go on a romantic date with my boyfriend but instead when I got to his apartment a little too early I caught him with another girl in his bed. And yes, they were both naked." That was surely a sight she would never forgot, no matter how badly she wanted to burn the image from her brain. They had been dating for seven months so she knew about his playboy past, he had told her himself. Of course he insisted that he had changed and that he wasn't that man anymore because he loved her. It looked like that was a load of crap. She had been a fool to believe his sweet words. No, not a fool, perhaps a romantic. Ever the optimist she looked for the best in people. Boy, did it hurt when she was wrong.

For some reason, when Lucy looked over at Natsu he seemed angry. His fist was clenched on the table. "No girl ever deserves to be treated like that. Who is he I'll go teach him a lesson!" he roared, standing up so fast that his chair tipped over.

Lucy laughed nervously waving her hands frantically to calm him down. "No need for that. I yelled at him for a while and gave him a good ol' Lucy Kick to the crotch," she assured her new friend despite how her heart still painfully throbbed. She thought it was strange that this man she just met was willing to come to her rescue but she didn't think much of it. Instead she pushed away the painful memories that kept resurfacing and changed the topic of discussion.

"Now I told you my reason, what is yours?" she questioned Natsu, ignoring another pang from her heart with a long swallow of her drink.

The said man huffed out of his nose, looking annoyed but he had calmed down from his previous outburst. "Well I was meeting my friend here which we like to do most days but he ditched me for his girlfriend," he picked up his chair he had knocked over and sat back down. "That bastard texted me when I was already here. I didn't want to waste a trip to the bar without buying one of Mira's drinks."

Lucy finished off her drink, her cheeks flushed and eyes a bit brighter now, a clear sign she was getting tipsy. "Say, I'll replace your friend tonight. How does that sound?"

The man next to her blinked his dark green eyes at her before a grin stretched across his face. "Sure! You're a lot prettier than he is!"

 **End Flashback**

Lucy let out a loud sniffle, unburying her face because her tears were making her hair stick to her cheeks uncomfortably. With most of her tears drained from her body, she found the strength to crawl over to her sink. Grabbing the counter she pulled herself up to her feet, her knees still quivering. She grabbed the tissue box that rested on top of the toilet and pulled out some Kleenex to clean her face up. Lucy dabbed her tears away, her face red and splotchy, no surprise there. Then she splashed some cold water on her face and tied her hair back into a pony tail. "That's a little better," she sighed to herself, staring back at her reflection.

"Lucy, you can't mope around the whole day," she scolded herself, jabbing her finger at the mirror. "You made a mistake and there's consequences. BIG consequences but you've been feeling sorry for yourself for too long. It's been a week so time to man up…Er, woman up." She straightened her spine a bit. "Good talk." With that bit of resolve she threw on some make up to cover up the redness of her face and added a bit of mascara. Luckily she had already changed earlier so all she had to do was slide on some sandals. The weather was still going to be warm since it was still late August so she stuck with jeans and a cute shirt with open holed shoulder sleeves.

"Bye Plue! I'll be back soon," Lucy called after her white Shitzuu who was currently lounging on the couch, burrowed in her favorite blanket. The dog lazily wagged his tail at his name while his owner ran out the door.

"Okay it should be close enough to walk there," Lucy scrolled through the maps apps on her phone, careful of watching where she was going lest she ran into someone or something. Confident that she remembered the directions, she stuck her phone in her back pocket, the pink phone case bulging from her jeans since it didn't fit in the pocket.

About ten minutes had passed and Lucy found herself back at the bar. It had been almost a month ago since she had been there. The young woman inhaled deeply to calm her nerves, praying that it was open. She only now realized the odds of that were going to be considerably low since it was only two in the afternoon. Much to her dismay the neon sign that read "Open" wasn't lit up and the door was locked. Lucy groaned, banging her head lightly on the glass door. She rested her forehead against the cool glass, squeezing her eyes shut, not wanting to cry over something like this. It was not a big deal, she would just have to come by later. Another sigh escaped her lips as she straightened, taking a step away from the building. Right when she began walking away she stopped hearing a voice.

"Excuse me? Miss? Are you all right?" Lucy stopped at the voice. The streets weren't that busy so she assumed that the person was talking to her. She had her excuse ready on the tip of her tongue to assure whoever it was that she was fine only to see a familiar white haired woman standing in the threshold of the door. It was the bar maiden from the night she went to the bar! "I saw you from inside the bar where I was cleaning up. Did you need something? Or maybe did you forget something here last night? I can check the cashbox. I didn't work last night so I don't know if anyone found anything."

"Oh no, no it's nothing like that," Lucy blinked, unable to help but smile in relief. "I didn't lose something but I did need help finding something," she said, much to the woman's confusion.

The woman gave her a long look, probably due to the blonde's puzzling answer before inviting her into the bar and locking the door behind them so that no one thought they were open. Mira went behind the bar counter and began resuming cleaning some glasses while Lucy took the seat she sat in last time. "What's your name?"

"Lucy," said girl answered, declining when she was offered anything to drink.

"Well, nice to meet you Lucy. My name is Mirajane but you can call me Mira," the woman introduced herself.

"Thanks for letting me step inside Mira," Lucy replied graciously. "You won't get in trouble for this will you? Since your closed and all?"

Mira let out a light giggle. "I own this bar so the only one who I can get in trouble with is the Health Department," she said with a wink. "But seeing that I keep my bar in tip top shape I don't think we need to worry about that."

Lucy couldn't help but smile at that, feeling at ease with the caring nature of the woman. "I suppose we don't."

"Anyways," Mira leaned against the table on her elbows, looking a bit more serious "What exactly did you lose but not lose?" Her white hair was so long that it brushed against the counter when she leaned forward.

"I know it's a bit of a long shot," Lucy started, chewing on her lip, aware that it was a bad habit. "I need this guy's number that I uh, talked to here so I was hoping you might know him or knew someone who might know him."

Mira blinked, curiosity taking over. "Why? Do you like this guy?"

"N-no!" Lucy stuttered, her cheeks flushing slightly which only egged Mira on.

"So you do like him! How adorable! What's his name? Or if you don't know that what does he look like? I'll do anything I can to help get the two of you together!"

Lucy's head was spinning from Mira's fast talk about matchmaking her and this guy she didn't even know. "He has pink hair," she cut Mira off, having a feeling that she wouldn't stop otherwise. "His name is-"

"Natsu?" the bar maiden's eyes widened in surprise, her mouth forming a slight 'O'.

"Yes, that's him," Lucy's eyes brightened. This was going easier than she could have hoped. "You know him? Do you have his number?"

"He's been a longtime family friend," Mira answered while Lucy wondered if the woman was taking back her match making idea. "Why do you need his number?"

Lucy avoided her sea blue eyes, training her gaze instead to her hands in her lap. "There's something really important that I need to speak with him about as soon as I possibly can."

Mira stared down the pretty blonde and after deciding that the chances of this girl hurting her friend was low she took out her phone and hit the contacts button. "Here," she set her phone down on the counter facing Lucy with Natsu's contact info already pulled up.

Pulling out her phone from her pocket, Lucy hurriedly typed in his information. " _Dragneel…Natsu Dragneel"_ she thought, finally knowing his last name. It was a good thing Mira knew who he was otherwise it would have been a lot harder to find him without a last name. "Thank you so much, Mira. You're a real life saver," Lucy grinned in relief as she put her phone away.

Mira closed her eyes and smiled. "No problem, Lucy. I hope everything works out for you."

Lucy stood up, giving the other girl a half-hearted smile. "I really hope so too Mira. Have a nice day!" she waved before heading out the door and back to her apartment. Now that she had Natsu's number she felt a little lighter, like a small weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. There was still plenty of other weight lingering but the load still seemed lessened. New resolve pumped through Lucy's veins as she hurried back to her house.

"I'm home Plue!" Lucy announced, flinging her apartment door open once she unlocked it. The little white dog raced over to greet here, letting out excited whines and pawed at her legs so she bent down to scratch behind his floppy ears. Most apartments in the area didn't allow pets but she had been lucky enough to find this one so she didn't have to get rid of Plue. The thought of having to get rid of her precious dog was heartbreaking.

"You must be hungry by now," Lucy glanced at the clock, surprised by how long she had been gone. She had left the house at around two and it was already getting close to four. It was still too soon to feed her dog dinner so Lucy set her phone on the table and went to the pantry to give Plue a dog treat. Once she did that she decided to look for a snack for herself but she wasn't fooling herself. All she was doing was stalling. Still, she grabbed a bag of pretzels and carried them over to the couch. Plopping down and getting comfortably she stared at Natsu contact until his number was practically seared into her brain.

"Just hit the button, Lucy. Hit it…now…now!" With a squeak, she pressed her index finger down on the call button, anxiously awaiting for an answer. To her relief and disappointment she was brought to a voice mail.

 _Hey! This is Natsu's phone. I'm probably busy burning something down or kicking Ice Princess' ass so I'll get to you eventually haha!_

Lucy couldn't help but smile a little at his message while also being slightly concerned, still she left a timid message. "Hey Natsu….this is Lucy. The girl from the bar about a month ago? I'd really like to talk to you so give me a call when you can. Bye…" she awkwardly hung up after a moment of silence.

"Now it's time to wait…" she sighed, thrumming her fingers against her leg. Today was Saturday so she didn't have to work nor did she make any plans for the rest of the day. "I guess I can get some work down on my novel," Lucy mused. Walking over to her book shelf she pulled her journal out. Most of her friends were always amazed why she didn't just type her works but she always insisted that she liked writing it down first. It felt more real that way. Also, when she did retype it on her lap top it allowed her to find any errors easier.

Currently the story she was working on was about another world filled with magic and mythical creatures. Some creatures made from her own imagination like a blue mermaid with a temper and cats that could sprout wings. She was only about five chapters in but what she had in store for the next chapter was going to be super exciting. Once she finished this chapter Levy was going to scream!

Levy was Lucy's best friend, the two having bonded over their love of books. Ever since Levy found out that she liked to write books she insisted on reading everything that Lucy wrote. At first Lucy refused, utterly embarrassed that anyone actually wanted to READ her novels but she caved in. Now after every chapter she emailed a copy over to Levy who would fangirl over it and give her constructive criticism that was greatly appreciated.

Her fingers continued flying over the keyboard, only pausing occasionally when she had to stop and think how she wished the next part to be. Forty-five minutes had passed and Lucy was midway through the chapter. The good part was just coming up when her phone began buzzing on the table next to her. Her entire body stiffened, staring at the phone as she saw Natsu's name pop up onto the screen. Robotically, she moved to grab her phone and answered it before it could go to her voice mail. "Hello?" she answered in a shaky voice, anxiety creeping towards her chest.

"Lucy? Is that you?" a familiar male voice asked from the other end of the line. She nodded breathlessly, realizing a second later that he couldn't see her.

"Yeah, it's me," she said in a stronger voice after clearing her throat. "I wanted to know if we could meet-"

"No," his abrupt answer stopped the words in her throat, leaving them stuck there as an icy fist clenched her heart in its grasp.

Swallowing thickly, the young woman tried again. "Natsu, please I need you to-"

"Lucy, I said no," Natsu's voice came across the phone sterner. "We can't do what we did ever again. It was a mistake. I'm not the guy who just sleeps around with any pretty girl I can pick up at the bar. I don't know what got into me that night. You were pretty, you were upset, I was bored and drunk and we had sex. End of story."

"Please, Natsu, just listen to me," Lucy cursed herself as her voice cracked. "I really need to see you."

"I'm sorry you're hurting still over your ex-boyfriend but there's nothing I can do to help take the pain away. That was last month," she could hear a sigh come from the other end. "I thought you were different, Lucy. That you were more than this. Maybe that's why I slept with you that night, hoping it could turn out to be more but I never saw you at the Fairy Tail again. And that's fine it's not like you had to but it kinda sucked a lot for me."

Lucy remained quiet, her eyes misting over. Never did she ever mean to take advantage of him like that. "Natsu…I don't want to have sex with you."

Silence met her on the other end. "Then why else would you call me a month later?" he asked coldly. Little did she know he was trying to mask the hurt from his voice.

"It would be better if we talked over person. I don't want to do this over the phone…"

"Yeah, I guess having sex would be difficult over the phone."

Lucy clutched her phone tighter in her hand. "I'm not trying to have sex with you!" she yelled at him. Hopefully that would get through to him but it only made him yell back.

"Then why else are you calling me now?"

"Because I'm pregnant with your child, you idiot!" Lucy shouted, breathing heavily as she waited for his response. The silence on the other end was deafening. The only thing that she could hear was her ragged breathing and frantically beating heart. It was becoming so long that Lucy wondered if he had hung up on her until his voice rang through the receiver.

"When do you want to meet?" Natsu asked, but she couldn't tell how he as feeling. His voice was quiet so she assumed he was in shock about the news which made sense. She has known for a week and the idea of being pregnant still seemed unreal to her.

"Anytime soon. When are you free?" Lucy asked, relieved that he was willing to speak to her about this. At least he wasn't one of those guys who just hung up the phone or denied she was pregnant.

"I just got off of work so I can meet you now. We can meet in public if that makes you more comfortable," he offered. "There's a restaurant close to Fairy Tail called Sabertooth. We can go there if you want and talk over dinner."

"That works for me," Lucy agreed, knowing of the place but having never gone inside before. "I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"Sounds good," Natsu answered stiffly. There was another awkward silence before Lucy muttered a quick good bye and hung up on him.

Lucy heaved herself off of the couch to quickly get ready. She wasn't going to dress up for him but she wasn't going to go out dressed like a slob. Carefully she ran her brush through her hair to get out the notes after wearing her hair in a ponytail all day so it was nice and smooth. Throwing on some lip gloss and vanilla perfume she was ready to go. Double checking that her purse had everything she needed which included her phone and a wallet with more than ten dollars she stared at the door. She had to do this, not only for her but for her child. Another sigh escaped Lucy's lips before she put on her usual smile to mask her emotions and marched out the door.

 **Hi all! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I'm not sure how long this is going to be it's going to depend on how many more ideas I have for this and you all. If you like please give it a heart and a favorite. This is the longest chapter I have ever written so this is super exciting for me. LMK what you think in a review it really motivates me to keep writing. ~CelestialSpiritQueen**


	2. Dinner Date?

Nervous was an understatement for how Lucy felt in this moment. Her fingers twitched anxiously at her sides as she weaved through the busy streets of Magnolia. The sun was beginning to set so the street lights twinkled above to illuminate a path for people to walk along. A little hope had surged in her chest when Natsu agreed to meet with her, bringing about a boost of confidence as she made her way to their meeting spot. Sabertooth wasn't too far from her house so the walk only took her ten minutes. Her eyes scanned the room, looking for pink hair but after seeing none, she got a table for the two of them.

Lucy's fingers drummed against the table top while sipping her water that a waitress had placed in front of her as she waited for Natsu. During her wait she envisioned all the different ways that their conversation could go. Some were nice, others were not so pleasant, and they seemed to get worse by the minute as fear overtook her thoughts. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the man sitting across from her.

"Lucy?" he called, startling her back to reality. Her big brown eyes met his worried expression. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," the blonde breathed out, forcing her muscles to relax. "I was just thinking."

"So have I since our phone call," Natsu admitted and opened his mouth to speak again but a waitress swung by their table for their drink orders instead.

"I'll have a pink lemonade," Lucy told the worker who scribbled it down on a notepad.

"A coke for me," Natsu replied before the waitress could ask, waving her off afterwards.

"So…" Lucy started, unsure if she should just dive into the conversation.

"So you're pregnant," Natsu finished for her, staring her down with a slightly intense, guarded look.

"I am," she nodded, leaning forward slightly in her chair.

Natsu regarded her another moment before speaking again. "Are you sure it's mine?"

Lucy gaped at him. "Of course I'm sure! Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know who you are or what kind of person you are," Natsu told her truthfully. "If you slept with me after just meeting me at the bar who's to say I'm not the first guy you've done that with?"

As much as it hurt he did have a point. "I promise you, this baby is yours. If you need proof I will get a paternity test but I'd rather avoid those costs," Lucy lowered her eyes to her hands in her lap. "I'd get why you think that about me but I'm not that kind of girl. I was hurting, I drank more than I could handle and you were there. I…I-I never meant to take advantage of you or to trap you into having a child with me." By now tears were brimming in her chocolate brown eyes but it seemed harder than before to force them back. "I'm sorry, Natsu. I'm so sorry." Tears began falling down her cheeks for about the third time that day. She specifically told herself not to cry in front of Natsu only to wind up doing so in the first five minutes.

"D-don't cry!" Natsu's panicked voice exclaimed upon seeing her tears. Hastily he did the first thing he thought of and began wiping her tears with his fingers. "Aw man, I didn't mean to make you cry!"

Seeing how concerned he was over a little bit of tears, Lucy let out a choked up laugh and strained to rein in her emotions. "S-S-Sorry I d-didn't mean to s-start cr-crying," she stuttered. "I'm just a b-bit emotional that's all."

"Is that one of those weird pregnancy things?" Natsu asked, once she calmed down enough to be able to speak. When she nodded he continued. "My friend's wife, when she was pregnant she was _always_ crying."

"Really?" Lucy's expression fell. "Does that mean I'm going to cry now all the time?"

"I don't know!" Natsu threw up his arms defensively, afraid to set off the waterworks again. "I really don't know much about this stuff."

"That makes two of us," Lucy sighed, perking up slightly when their drinks were put in front of her. When she caught Natsu staring at her drink she asked him what was wrong.

"It's just…why did you order pink lemonade?"

Lucy blinked, her eyes traveling down to her colorful drink. "I like the color pink so if it can be pink why not?"

Natsu let out a soft chuckle. It was the first laugh she heard out of him today. "You are so weird," he snorted.

"Am not!" she huffed, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Yeah, you are but that's ok. I like weird. Normal is too boring for me," Natsu took a large gulp of his pop, losing his playful manner as he turned serious again. "Anyways, we should really talk about…you know."

"We should," Lucy agreed, looking up to meet his eyes. Finding that too difficult to do she settled for staring at his cheek. "No matter your stance on the baby, I'm going to keep it. This baby didn't do anything wrong." Her lips trembled despite her voice remaining even. "I understand if you don't want to be a father to this baby but if you do you need to tell me."

The pink haired man stared at her for a long moment, taking in her words. "I want to be a father to my child," he told her firmly. "I couldn't imagine life without my dad and I don't want to do the same to my kid," his eyes seemed to soften when he spoke of his father. "If my dad hadn't of adopted me I don't know where I would be today."

"You're adopted?" Lucy questioned, swirling the straw in her drink, the ice cubes clinking against the glass softly.

The waitress came once again for their food orders so the two quickly chose what they wanted from the menu then picked their conversation back up. "Igneel adopted me and my brother together when we were both pretty young. I don't remember our real parents but my brother does. He's a few years older than me."

"What happened to your parents?" Lucy quickly slapped her hands over her mouth. "Oh my God I'm really sorry I shouldn't have asked such a personal question."

"We already got as personal as two people can get, physically at least," Natsu pointed out with a slightly smirk. He watched as her face down to her neck turned from creamy white to tomato red.

"Don't just go and say that!" Lucy sputtered, sweat building on her palms the more she got flustered. Unfortunately for her it seemed that Natsu enjoyed making her squirm.

"Say things like what?" Natsu leaned forward, resting his elbows against the table. "That we had sex?" he said, not bothering to whisper despite being in public.

"Yes! Exactly things like that!" Lucy tried to glare at him but she had to wipe her hands on her skirt since the precipitation on them was getting distracting. "Besides we have more important things to be talking about right now."

Natsu laughed, then sat back in his chair. "Fine, fine. Now what do we talk about first?"

Lucy let out a breath of relief. He actually listened to her. "I guess how we are going to take care of the baby. Will we switch every week with who takes care of the baby? Do you only want some visitation?"

"Whoa whoa there blondie," Natsu held up a hand. He noticed the way her teeth clenched at the nickname but he chose to ignore it. "I want to be with my kid everyday so I can teach him cool stuff!"

"Do you know how to take care of a baby?" Lucy asked, not liking the idea of just giving the baby to Natsu the majority of the time.

Natsu's face well, a low whine coming from the back of his throat. "Not exactly…"

"And neither do I," she sighed. "You said earlier that you just got off of work so what would you do when you had to go to work? I don't know about you but I can't afford a nanny."

"I can't either." At this rate they seemed to be making almost no progress. Lucy was almost ready to just call it quits so she could curl up in bed and eat ice cream while watching stupid movies when Natsu's idea startled her.

"What if we raise the baby together?" he asked, seeming excited by the idea. "When I'm at work you can watch the baby and I can when you are at work. Also, we can put together money to buy things for the baby instead of having to buy two of everything, one for each house."

"Natsu," Lucy started, wondering if his train of thought was going the same way that her's was. "What exactly are you getting at?"

"Let's move in together so we can both raise the baby full time!" Natsu looked so pleased with himself you would have thought he slayed a dragon or something.

"What?! Are you serious?" Lucy gasped, having not expected that at all. She thought he was just going to tell her to keep the baby and that he would visit occasionally.

"Course I am!" Natsu looked at her like she was crazy for even questioning him. "It makes the most sense."

Lucy picked at her nails, not looking as confident. "But we hardly know each other."

"Then looks like we have t'a change that," Natsu stuck out his hand. "My name is Natsu Dragneel, nice to meet ya!" Lucy stared at his outstretched hand, noticing how much larger and tanner they were than her's. "Are ya gonna shake it or not?"

Lucy smiled a little, taking his hand. "I'm Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia," she reintroduced herself. "So we just start hanging out and get to know each other? Do we have to move in right away?"

"Nah, I wouldn't say right away," Natsu thought, his brow furrowing slightly. "But definitely before the baby comes. You'll probably need more help once you get bigger."

"Is that a fat joke?" Natsu shrunk away from her harsh glare before he realized that she was messing with him.

"Damn, you can be as scary as Erza," he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck to get rid of the goosebumps.

Lucy blinked at him. "Who is Erza?"

"Huh?" Natsu, hummed, having gotten distracted by their food being brought before them. His mouth salivated at the sight of his juicy burger covered in jalapeño peppers. To make it even spicier he took a bottle of hot sauce from his jacket and doused the burger in that too.

"I asked you who Erza was," Lucy repeated her question as she took a bit of her own plain burger. She was going to order salad but Natsu told her to live a little and to try something else.

"Ohhh," Natsu swallowed such a large mouthful that Lucy was amazed he didn't choke. "Erza is one of my best friends," he explained between bites, hot sauce dripping down the sides of his burger and coating his fingers with the red liquid.

Lucy nodded, drinking her lemonade. "Does she know about….me? Or really us?"

"Not yet." The color drained from Natsu's face, his food freezing in hand. "She's going to kill me…"

Lucy scrunched up her nose at his odd behavior. "Why is she going to kill you?"

Natsu gulped and she really hoped he wasn't going to throw up everywhere. "When she finds out I got you pregnant and we aren't even dating….she's going to beat me to my death with her fists. Maybe she'll end me quicker with one of her swords if I'm lucky."

' _Swords? What kind of friends does he even have?!"_ Lucy's thoughts screamed at her but for Natsu's sake she settled for a nervous smile. "Wow, I hope I don't have to meet her."

Natsu blinked hearing her words and reverted back to normal. "Don't get the wrong idea! Erza's a little crazy but I think she'll like you. I think all my friends will."

"You want to introduce me to your friends?" the blonde asked in surprise, arching a blonde eyebrow at him.

Natsu nodded, digging back into his burger. "Yep! If you are going to be in my life you have to," he smiled. There was something in that smile that caused her heart to beat a little faster.

"I don't have many friends for you to meet," Lucy admitted, wincing at how pathetic that sounded. Her father controlled the majority of her life so she never had kid friends growing up besides Brandish and the house staff. Sadly, Brandish didn't visit all that much and stopped once her mom passed and the staff were doing their jobs.

"A few close friends is better than a lot of friends," Natsu pointed his drink at her. He had already completely demolished his plate of food before she even finished the first half of her sandwich! "Anyways, now that we are going to be a thing you'll have lots more friends!"

Lucy processed what he said, having a delayed reaction. "W-what do you mean a thing?" she flushed.

Natsu cocked his head at her like an adorable yet confused puppy. "I dunno, like a thing as in we're having a baby together." Lucy couldn't stop the sigh of relief that escaped between her lips. "What you thought we were just going to start dating?" Her blush and no reply gave him his answer. "You're such a weirdo," he laughed, breaking her out of her embarrassment.

"Am not! If anyone is the weirdo here it's you!" Lucy pointed her finger at him accusingly, not unlike a detective pointing out his suspect.

"As if!" Natsu yelled back without a trace of anger in his voice. The two continued 'fighting' for a while longer until both grew tired of it, or really Lucy grew tired while Natsu became distracted by the idea of dessert. "Yosh! Let's get everything!"

Lucy had to force her mouth to close. "How are you still hungry?!"

"Easy, I'm always hungry," he laughed, rubbing his bulging stomach. She remembered how toned his stomach was and wondered how he kept his figure with everything he ate.

"I don't understand your logic…" Lucy muttered, doing nothing but listening as Natsu ordered half of the dessert menu.

"I'll walk you out," Natsu offered, surprising the young woman. He really seemed to be making an effort to be nice to her. Maybe they actually could beat the odds and raise this baby together as a family.

All of these thoughts swirled around in Lucy's head but the only response she gave him was a simple thank you. The pair stepped out of the restaurant, the cool air forming goosebumps on her arms.

"Where's your car at?" the man beside her asked, his green eyes scanning the parking lot.

"Oh uh…funny thing is…I actually don't have a car. I walked here," she admitted, embarrassed by the fact. She had been saving up for a car for so long but rent was expensive and so was paying off her student loans so those two fees swallowed up most of her paycheck. At least her work was close enough to walk to and if the weather was ever bad she could get a ride from her friend, Levy. Hearing this, Natsu's lips pulled down into a frown. He did not enjoy the image of the pretty blonde walking home in the dark by herself.

"Let me give you a ride home, it's getting late." Lucy blushed faintly, tucking her long bangs behind her ear which was also touched with red.

"Thank you, that is very kind of you." The response she received was a cheesy grin from the pink haired man.

"No worries, it's the least I can do to help you out." Natsu reached out, taking her hand in his. "Come on, my car is this way," he tugged her along, weaving between cars until they reached his which was a bright red car accompanied with orange flames painted on the sides. Lucy decided on not making a comment on his choice of car decal seeing that he was giving her a ride home. "Climb right in!" he raced around to the passenger side door so that he could open it before she did. Uttering another thank you, Lucy slid right in. Once she was settled, Natsu closed the door and ran over to the other side of the car and hopping in.

"Take a right out of the parking lot. I live in one of the apartment buildings along the river," she explained the directions, watching as he took out a medicine bottle from the glove box and popped two white pills into his mouth. "I swear to god if you are taking drugs right now-"

"It's medicine," Natsu scoffed in an offended tone, tossing the pill bottle over to her. "I have really bad motion sickness so I haf'ta take these so I can drive without barfing all over the place." His pupils flickered up to the review mirror before he pulled out of the parking space. "I would never put you or our baby in danger like that," he continued in a softer yet more serious voice.

"Natsu…" Lucy breathed out, her brown eyes widening at his confession. They barely knew each other but he seemed to want to protect her like no one ever has before. She did not want to simply thank him, she seemed to have done that at least ten times over one dinner. Instead she reached over, her hand reaching over to the wheel to gently squeeze his right hand. The man seemed to stiffen at the touch before relaxing and taking is hand off the wheel so that he could properly hold onto her.

"I'm gonna take care of you Lucy. Both you and the baby, that I can promise you," he vowed, sparing a glance at her. "No matter what happens I will always stay by your side."

Lucy remained quiet for so long after this that she could feel the tension in the air between them. "I'll stay by your side too, Natsu," she finally replied, looking over at him with a soft smile that spoke more than a hundred words could ever. Things weren't going to be easy, they weren't stupid. The road ahead was filled with bumps and cracks, but as long as they stuck together they could give their child a loving family, which is all the expecting parents wanted.

 **AN: Thanks for all the positive feedback on the first chapter! I'm really not sure how much longer I'm going to make this. My guess is a few more chapter depending on how many more ideas I have for it and since I'm working on LIABF still. Speaking of LIABF it was added to a community on here which is awesome since it was one with fanfic authors that I admire! Is there anything you all would like to see in this story? Next chapter get ready for Lucy to meet Erza and Gray. How will they react to the news? Leave a review to let me know your thoughts. Thanks again friends! ~CelestialSpiritQueen**


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